Lord don't let it be another Tunick...

Later! OL J R

__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

When has Estes ever teased that the B14 might be coming back? Everyone at the company I've ever discussed the subject with was pretty clear that the cored motors would never be reissued.

(Background: we used a LOT of B14-0 motors as boosters for the S5 Scale Altitude models we flew in FAI competition from 2010 through 2014, and had a very real need for more. And yes, we were willing to pay for access to a short run of custom motors.)

James

Pleeeeeeeeez don't be another Tunick or any other "toy" executive.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

My sincere hope is that the first real product using this technology would be a neural fin sander.

__________________
Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

__________________
A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets. But high above the quiet streets on the 12th floor of the Acme Building, one man is still trying to find the answers to life's persistent questions. Guy Noir, Private Eye.

Fox Valley Rocketeers: http://www.foxvalleyrocketeers.org

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
I recently retired from a large company worth 6.4 billion. They acquired 2 or 3 companies per year for the last 17 years. All of these acquisitions pushed the spin that the change was good for them and they would become an even stronger entity. Many were stripped of some product lines our company desired and they dumped the rest before closing down their new acquisition in a one to five years. Remember when Estes did this to Cox? Their employees were assured of a solid future only to find that Estes just wanted the RTF r/c planes line and closed down the model engine plant and the plastic division that made glow engined control line planes.
Also I 'm sure you may recall the stories of how disheartening it was for the original Estes crew to make presentations to their new Damon executives who seemed somewhat clueless and indifferent to the items in the presentations. The new owners may very well be the same unless they have a solid background in the model rocketry industry.
No one can say with any degree of certanty whatsoever what will or will become of Estes. Only well after March 26th will anyone have an idea of what will happen.
Unless one of us has Half a billion hidden in their mattress all we can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

This is about what I had figured and I'm glad to hear you say it. As somone with almost 40 years in banking and with SBA, it makes no sense to sell off parts of Estes. The company is in good shape and the strongest player in it's niche.

As long as who ever buys it realizes the importance of retaining the employees that make it a great company, Estes will be just fine.

Verna
http://www.vernarockets.com
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HHJHOK6
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O14ET8K
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CX1UPCG

It's true that there are some scenarios that could play out that would be ultimately detrimental. The new owner might be a foreign conglomerate who would use Estes to bring their own inferior (or superior) product in to the market. The new owner might be an otherwise clueless individual with a lot of cash. Or might be a silicon valley investor who thinks Estes should get into robotics and AI and forget about all this silly rocket stuff.

Estes survived Damon, they survived Nomad, they survived Bank of the West, they survived Tunick (who, as much as I bash him, probably took Estes where it needed to go at the time), and it's probable that they'll survive Hobbico (which seemed like a great idea at the time).

As for Cox, I think Tunick was serious about building a hobby powerhouse back in '97 when he bought Cox, Sterling, and the other properties, but the market was already spiraling away for those, and he didn't seem to know how to deal (if he even wanted to) with niche markets.

__________________
Roy
nar12605

__________________
A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets. But high above the quiet streets on the 12th floor of the Acme Building, one man is still trying to find the answers to life's persistent questions. Guy Noir, Private Eye.

Fox Valley Rocketeers: http://www.foxvalleyrocketeers.org

Good news. The only Estes Industries, LLC I could find is in West Palm Beach held by Nicole Estes. I don't think that's the company. ;-) The "correct" company must've just registered because I can't find it with Google.

__________________
Scott D. Hansen
Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe - Your One Stop BAR Shoppe!
Ye Olde Rocket Plans - OOP Rocket Plans From 38 Companies!
Ye Olde Rocket Forum
WOOSH NAR Section #558